# Geniuses Who Are Currently Active **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829 "2015-04-16T14:19:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/21 "2015-04-16T20:58:29Z")
I think George R.R. Martin is an absolute genius story teller. He has to be brilliant to weave such an intricate plot. And he says he’s still working. The _Song of Ice and Fire_ series has as much thought behind it as anything I’ve ever read. And although some will say his writing has declined over the last couple books, I still think he’s one of the best. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/22 "2015-04-16T21:11:54Z")
George R. R. Martin is definitely a candidate. If he comes _close_ to sticking the landing, the _Song of Ice and Fire_ series will stand for a long as absolutely top-of-the-pile fantasy fiction. Musicians are risky, because it’s always hard to know who time will really side with, but I would give a vote to John Darnielle (aka The Mountain Goats). He’s a fantastic lyricist who has managed to grow gracefully into more polished recordings without losing his ability to write captivating lyrics married to solid melodies. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/23 "2015-04-16T21:12:17Z")
[John Williams.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/24 "2015-04-16T21:28:58Z")
Adrian Newey. [Adrian Newey - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Newey) ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/25 "2015-04-16T21:53:04Z")
I love G R R Martin’s work but he’s no [Gene Wolfe.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Wolfe) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/26 "2015-04-16T22:02:11Z")
Neil Peart’s called The Professor for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/27 "2015-04-16T22:18:57Z")
LeBron James, Peyton Manning, Calvin Johnson, Mike Trout. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/28 "2015-04-16T22:26:02Z")
[Yukito Kishiro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukito_Kishiro) [Jay Munly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Munly) ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/29 "2015-04-16T22:34:39Z")
Kanye. [Just ask him.](http://www.capitalxtra.com/artists/kanye-west/lists/inspirational-quotes/jimmy-kimmel/) ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/30 "2015-04-16T23:23:33Z")
Freeman Dyson. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/31 "2015-04-16T23:52:54Z")
Multiple film directors, especially since that particular medium is still so new: Martin Scorsese, Frances Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Steven Spielberg… In the annals of cinematographic history they’ll all probably deserve the “genius” designation. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/32 "2015-04-17T00:32:08Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > Itzhak Perlman Well, at least I _get_ that commercial now. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/33 "2015-04-17T01:17:04Z")
I’ll say Leonard Cohen. ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/34 "2015-04-17T01:58:29Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > LeBron James, Peyton Manning, Calvin Johnson, Mike Trout. If we’re going with athletes, I’ll go with Mayweather and Jon Jones. For my money, Jose Also is the best fighter in the world, but he doesn’t have the innovation to be a genius. He’s just a natural born bad ass. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/35 "2015-04-17T03:29:03Z")
Beck, John Lasseter, Tina Fey. They don’t display Schopenhaur-level depth, but he didn’t have their technical skills either. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/36 "2015-04-22T05:09:40Z")
Is Larry David still active? I’d put him in the conversation. I thought Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was genius, so a nod to its writer, Charlie Kauffman, although he hasn’t exactly been busting them out right and left lately. Prince is always the first musician that comes to mind when the word genius gets thrown around, but I’m not that knowledgeable in the medium. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/37 "2015-04-22T06:26:05Z")
I’d suggest Todd Rundgren, but mostly because a lot of his peers consider him one: “Todd Rundgren is a genius and I don’t use that word a lot.” - Jim Steinman, writer of “Bat Out of Hell” “All these people would be going on about Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page and I’d be like, yeah, but I’m into Todd Rundgren - he could play guitar like a fucking bastard. He’s a genius. What can you say about Todd, you know? Todd is god” - Colin Newman of _Wire_ Also, he’s a polymath, having significant careers in several areas. As a musician and producer, obviously, but he wrote the first consumer paint program (for the Apple II), animated his own music videos, and I just found out that he went to Sega with a program described [as an embryonic “Guitar Hero” for their video game system.](https://books.google.com/books?id=QZS_gXpshd4C&lpg=PT436&ots=GpriVUwRwm&dq=todd%20rundgren%20genius%20megaCD&pg=PT437#v=onepage&q=todd%20rundgren%20genius%20megaCD&f=false) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/38 "2015-04-22T12:00:23Z")
Kate Bush. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/39 "2015-04-22T16:41:07Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I’ll say Leonard Cohen. …and Joni Mitchell. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829/40 "2015-04-22T19:40:10Z")
[This list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Fellows_Program) may be useful (not all of these Fellows are involved in arts & literature). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geniuses-who-are-currently-active/717829.md?page=3)